A Book about the Film Monty Python's Life of Brian PDF Download

Author: Darl Larsen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781538134443
Category : Life of Brian
Languages : en
Pages : 496

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Book Description
This book identifies the plethora of cultural, historical, and topical references in the film Monty Python's Life of Brian. The author cites and explains virtually every allusion--from first-century Jerusalem through 1970s Great Britain, from terror groups ancient to modern, from Pontius Pilate to Margaret Thatcher--that appears in the film.

Author: Brian Johnson
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063046466
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
Brian Johnson’s memoir from growing up in a small town to starting his own band to ultimately replacing Bon Scott, the lead singer of one of the world biggest rock acts, AC/DC. They would record their first album together, the iconic Back in Black, which would become the biggest selling rock album of all time. Brian Johnson was born to a steelworker and WWII veteran father and an Italian mother, growing up in New Castle Upon Tyne, England, a working-class town. He was musically inclined and sang with the church choir. By the early ’70s he performed with the glam rock band Geordie, and they had a couple hits, but it was tough going. So tough that by 1976, they disbanded and Brian turned to a blue-collar life. Then 1980 changed everything. Bon Scott, the lead singer and lyricist of the Australian rock band AC/DC died at 33. The band auditioned singers, among them Johnson, whom Scott himself had seen perform and raved about. Within days, Johnson was in a studio with the band, working with founding members Angus and Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, and Phil Rudd, along with producer Mutt Lange. When the album, Back in Black, was released in July—a mere three months after Johnson had joined the band—it exploded, going on to sell 50 million copies worldwide, and triggering a years-long worldwide tour. It has been declared “the biggest selling hard rock album ever made” and “the best-selling heavy-metal album in history.” The band toured the world for a full year to support the album, changing the face of rock music—and Brian Johnson’s life—forever.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description

Author: Darl Larsen
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442245549
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 633

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Book Description
Monty Python’s Flying Circus aired from 1969 until 1974, but the conclusion of the series did not mark the end of the troupe’s creative output. Even before the final original episodes were recorded and broadcast, the six members began work on their first feature-length enterprise of new material. Rather than string together a series of silly skits, they conceived a full-length story line with references to the real and imagined worlds of the mythical King Arthur, the lives of medieval peasants, and the gloomy climate of 1970s Britain. Released in 1975, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a modest success but has since been hailed as a modern classic. In A Book about the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail:All the References from African Swallows to Zoot, Darl Larsen identifies and examines the cultural, historical, and topical allusions in the movie. In this entertaining resource, virtually every reference that appears in a scene—whether stated by a character, depicted in the mise-en-scène, or mentioned in the print companion—is identified and explained. Beyond the Arthurian legend, entries cover literary metaphors, symbols, names, peoples, and places—as well as the myriad social, cultural, and historical elements that populate the film. This book employs the film as a window to both reveal and examine “Arthurian” life and literature, the historical Middle Ages, and a Great Britain of labor unrest, power shortages, and the common man. Introducing the reader to dozens of medievalist histories and authors and connecting the film concretely to the “modern” British Empire, A Book about the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail will appeal to fans of the troupe as well as medieval scholars and academics who can laugh at themselves and their work.

Author: Eric Idle
Publisher: Crown Archetype
ISBN: 1984822608
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the ingenious comic performer, founding member of Monty Python, and creator of Spamalot comes an absurdly funny memoir of unparalleled wit and heartfelt candor—now featuring a new afterword. “A hilarious, charming book by this incredible, i̶n̶s̶u̶f̶f̶e̶r̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ interesting genius.”—Steve Martin We know him best for his unforgettable roles on Monty Python—from the Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life. Now, Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this entertaining memoir that takes us on a remarkable journey from his childhood in an austere boarding school through his successful career in comedy, television, theater, and film. Coming of age as a writer and comedian during the Sixties and Seventies, Eric stumbled into the crossroads of the cultural revolution and found himself rubbing shoulders with the likes of George Harrison, David Bowie, and Robin Williams, all of whom became dear lifelong friends. With anecdotes sprinkled throughout involving other close friends and luminaries such as Mike Nichols, Mick Jagger, Steve Martin, Paul Simon, Lorne Michaels, and many more, as well as John Cleese and the Pythons themselves, Eric captures a time of tremendous creative output with equal parts hilarity and heart. In Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, named for the song he wrote for Life of Brian and which has since become the number one song played at funerals in the UK, he shares the highlights of his life and career with the kind of offbeat humor that has delighted audiences for five decades. 2019 marked the fiftieth anniversary of The Pythons, and Eric commemorated the occasion with this hilarious memoir chock full of behind-the-scenes stories from a high-flying life featuring everyone from Princess Leia to Queen Elizabeth.

Author: Robert Sellers
Publisher: Titan Books (US, CA)
ISBN: 1783290773
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 429

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Book Description
The incredible, hilarious insider's story of Britain's favourite film company! It all started when Beatle George Harrison stepped in to fund Life of Brian when Monty Python's original backers pulled out. His company, HandMade films, went on to make some of the best British films of the 80s (Withnail and I, Time Bandits and Mona Lisa among them), but then things started to go wrong... This is the incredible and often hilarious insiders' story of what happened...

Author: Kim Howard Johnson
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1429994258
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 443

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Book Description
"One of the finest and most accurate records of the making of the film that I have ever read. I just wished I could remember what actually went on then." --Terry Jones "If anyone can remember more about making the Life of Brian than me, it's Kim ‘Howard' Johnson. He came, he saw, he got into costume. While the rest of us were fighting to upstage each other, Howard had a notebook hidden in his toga." --Michael Palin "Since I've forgotten everything, it will be great to read what was actually going on in Tunisia. Just as long as I'm the most quoted, the most vital to the shooting, and the most interesting. You don't have to mention my stunning good looks if you don't want to." --Terry Gilliam "Of all the books that I am planning to read in my dotage, there is none I am more looking forward to than Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday. . . . Not only does ‘Howard' Johnson know more about Python than anyone outside of the IRS, he was in Tunisia for most of the filming of Life of Brian, and is the only person who captured every thoughtless remark, heated exchange, embarrassing detail, petty insult, and spiteful act of indifference." --John Cleese "Kim ‘Howard' Johnson was invented by Graham Chapman during an idle moment on the set of The Life of Brian. ‘Let's invent a person,' he said. ‘An American fan from the Midwest,' chimed in Michael Palin, ‘who keeps a daily diary of Python filming. And then doesn't publish it for years and years.' How we laughed, and each day we'd make up stuff this ‘person' would write about us." --Eric Idle In 1978, Kim "Howard" Johnson ran away to join the circus---Monty Python's Flying Circus, that is. The Pythons converged on Tunisia to film their timeless classic, Life of Brian, and Howard found himself in the thick of it, doubling for nearly all the Pythons, playing more roles in the film than John Cleese, and managing to ruin only one shot. He became the unit journalist, substitute still photographer, Roman soldier, peasant, Biggus Dickus's double, near-stalker, and, ultimately, friend and confidant of the comedy legends. He also kept a detailed journal of what he saw and heard, on set and off, throughout those six weeks. The result is a unique eyewitness account that reveals the Pythons at work and at play in a way that nothing else written about them could do. Now, for the first time ever, the inside story of the making of the film is revealed through the fly-on-the-castle-wall perspective. Even the most diehard fans will get a fresh take on the comedy greats through some never-before-revealed nuggets of Python brilliance: what John Cleese offered to exchange for suntan lotion; Terry Jones directing in drag; Michael Palin's secret to playing revolutionaries and peasants; Graham Chapman gets naked; Terry Gilliam gets filthy; Eric Idle haggles; the secret of the Thespo-Squat; Mrs. Pilate; talk of George Harrison; the cake-flinging that jeopardized the production; badminton, impromptu cricket, and erotic frescoes; and the first-ever presentation of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." Here, uncensored, are the legendary Pythons in their prime. It was a period of comedy history that will never be duplicated, and Monty Python's Tunisian Holiday captures the wit, the genius, and the sheer silliness of the six men that comprised Python.

Author: Joan E. Taylor
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567658317
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Some of the foremost scholars of the historical Jesus and first-century Judea use the British movie masterpiece, Monty Python's The Life of Brian, as a starting point for further reflection on Jesus.

Author: Graham Parker
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781560255499
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
The former singer-songwriter who created such albums as Howlin' Wind and Heat Treatment and Deepcut to Nowhere pens his first novel, a funny, strange tale of washed up rocker Brian Parker. Original.

Author: Kate Egan
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474475175
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Examining Monty Python's enduring status as an unconventional, anti-authoritarian comedy touchstone, this book reappraises Python's comedy output from the perspective of its 50 years of cultural circulation. Reconsidering the group's originality, impact and durability, a range of international scholars explores Python's influences, production contexts, frequently controversial themes, and the cult status and forms of fandom associated with Python in the present day. From television sketches, including The Funniest Joke in the World, Hell's Grannies, Dead Parrot and Confuse-a-Cat, to the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life, to songs from the albums and live shows, this book is a ground-breaking critical analysis of the Monty Python phenomenon.